Talking with Linda Stanley, who is running as the Republican candidate for District 11 District Attorney, and you get the sense that she has worked hard, and continuously, to get where she is.
“I work with the facts,” says Stanely, who most recently has been a State of Colorado Hearing Officer. “From my resumé, I think you can see that for me this [running for DA] seems like a logical next step. This quote by Pope Paul VI sums up my viewpoint: ‘if you want peace, work for justice’.”
Linda Stanley is running-for 11th District DA. Courtesy photo.
“That thought was so meaningful to me, knowing what I was pursuing,” adds Stanley. “Peace comes in many different forms from many different people and that statement spoke volumes after I was a police officer.”
Stanley describes herself as a farm kid born in Nebraska and then raised in Iowa. She got an Associates’s Degree in Iowa, worked as a police officer, drove a long-haul truck, then got a BA in Criminal Justice at Metropolitan State College in Denver and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.
She attended the University of Denver Sturm Law School, where she was President of the Criminal Law Association. After law school, she spent several years as the Deputy District Attorney for the 10th Judicial District, then a year as the first Municipal Prosecutor for the cCty of Pueblo.
That her route to law school had some curves in it, she says gives her experience that others may not have. While in law school, she decided on a tattoo; a move she says she made so that her focus would always be in front of her.
That personal decision has been the subject of some unfounded rumors, according to Stanley. “Evidently there had been some rumors when I made appearances and did interviews, and somebody may have gotten a slight peek about it and not asked, just assumed – that I have tattoos all the way up my arm. I don’t,” says Stanley.
“ I had a tattoo in Latin put on my left wrist. It says ‘seek peace and truth through justice for the greater glory of God’. I put it there to remind myself every day to keep my focus on seeking peace and truth through justice –to keep my eye on what the real mission is for me on earth…I have it there so I see it every day.”
Stanley says that she’s always tried to be open and transparent and that she isn’t trying to hide the tattoo. “I’m not sure what the issue was…..ask me about it and I’ll tell you.”
Asked about her reasons for running for District Attorney now (she won the Republican primary in June running against former DA Thom LeDoux) she says “I’ve been a public servant my entire professional career – it is personally important to me – I was born to serve the public. I’ve always been a prosecutor and always in law enforcement. I’m not a politician, so dealing with these things in races is difficult for me. I guess you could say I’m someone who doesn’t like the politics of politics.”
Stanley says she’s “pro-cop 110 percent, but that she abhors bad cops. “So many do their jobs so well, but the bad cops need to go.” She adds that her extensive prosecutory experience is a definite advantage, versus the current DA (Acting DA Kaitlin Turner is running as the Democratic candidate) whom she says, has experience in civil courts, but not as much in criminal court.
“The people in this judicial district need a prosecutor with experience in criminal law, experience in jury trials and experience working with law enforcement at the local level,” says Stanley. “Additionally [I think] this district is hungry for an aggressive and tough prosecutor that also shows compassion for all individuals involved.”
Asked about the motto she lives by, Stanley said, “I was raised to do the right thing even when no one is watching…..and loving my country, got that from my Dad who served two years as a Marine. It’s about character and integrity.”
Recent Comments